Business owner asks job applicant to shadow the employee he is replacing and not tell her that he's her replacement: 'She has been there for 11 years.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Nov 4, 2026 6:45 PM EST

The job interviewing process is the perfect time to suss out red flags in a company before you commit to working for them. If a job is giving you a bad feeling before you even sign on, that might be the universe telling you that it is not the right job for you. 

When you conduct a job interview, look for red flags in the people you're interviewing. If they say, "My last boss was so horrible" before they say anything else, that is a huge red flag. I know a lot of people don't agree with judging somebody for saying that in a job interview, but I think it's worth judging somebody for it. First of all, it's common sense that you shouldn't be complaining about anything in a job interview. Who wants to work with someone who complains about everything all the time? I know I sure don't! There is also a good chance their previous workplace wasn't as bad as they claim, and they're actually the problem. How many times have you heard of somebody in your life complaining about their "crazy ex" or their "bad roommate," only for you to realize later on that they were 100% the bad partner or bad roommate? 

The interviewer isn't the only one who gets to judge. Maybe as the interviewee, you decide you wouldn't want to work somewhere that would judge you for bringing iced coffee into the job interview, so you bring iced coffee to the job interview to filter out the employers you'd rather not work for. It's totally okay to reject a job offer if half the interview is spent with the interviewer claiming this job is for hard workers willing to go the extra mile, because you know that is code for, "you will never get to go home before 8 PM ever again." It's better to reject a job that seems suspicious from the jump than to feel stuck there because you don't want to look like a job hopper. 

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  • 01
    A man sitting at a desk talking to a woman
    via Mina Rad

    A man at a job interview learns he is expected to shadow the woman he is going to replace. 

    Image shown for illustrative purposes; person depicted is a model.

  • 02

    Would you walk away from a job interview if they asked you to lie to the person you're replacing?

    I'm two interviews into an operations coordinator role at a family owned food distributor. The owner invited me to come in next week and shadow the woman currently doing the job.
    via u/naughty_stillness
  • 03
    Then he casually mentioned I should introduce myself as someone from a software company reviewing their processes because she has no idea they're planning to replace her.
    via u/naughty_stillness
  • 04
    Apparently she's been there 11 years and they don't want her finding out until they've hired someone.
    via u/naughty_stillness
  • 05
    The salary is a pretty big step up from what I'm making now, but something about walking into a workplace and pretending to be somebody else while secretly learning how to take their job feels really wrong.
    via u/naughty_stillness
  • 06
    Am I overthinking this or is this the kind of red flag you absolutely don't ignore?
    via u/naughty_stillness
  • 07
    drj1485 the biggest red flag to me is asking you to come in and shadow someone before you have a job offer. Shadowing a person they are firing is even weirder.
    via u/drj1485
  • 08
    muzna2002 And another red flag is that they are firing someone who has been there for 11 years without much of a notice. You're quite far into the hiring process and the person doesn't know they're being replaced - how will you know they won't do the same to you a short while later?
    via u/muzna2002
  • 09
    karmaapple3 How do you know they are letting her go without much notice? She might've had bad review after bad review, and just hasn't made the changes she needs to make. As a manager I see this all the time.
    via u/karmaapple3

  • This very well might be true. The employee could be dealing with a whole host of problems the interviewee doesn't know about. Maybe she started showing up late and leaving early, or her work isn't as good as it used to be. If that's the case, I think she should have the dignity of getting fired without having to train her replacement. 

    I'm not inclined to believe she's been doing a bad job because the boss wants her to train the replacement. Why would they want somebody who is doing poorly to train their replacement? I would guess that they're firing her for some petty reason. Maybe she's asking for more money, and they don't want to give it to her. Maybe she's a good employee, but she is annoying interpersonally: not the kind of person you want to spend eight hours a day in an office with. A boss can fire someone for basically any reason, but they shouldn't involve them in unknowingly training their replacement, even if they are the worst employee in the world.

  • 10
    natnat1919 if they want her to be shadowed that means she's doing a. Good job. You wouldn't ask a new employee to shadow someone who's awful. Agree with take the job, tell her and leave. Sneakiness is disgusting.
    via u/natnat1919
  • 11
    Automatic Soil9814 Shadowing is work. The company is asking you to do free work.
    via u/Automatic-Soil9814
  • 12
    SavageSwordShamazon And when you push back on that and their other treatment, you'll be the one getting shadowed by your replacement! They are showing how they treat their employees.
    via u/SavageSwordShamazon
  • 13
    Late_Extent 991 Here's the deal: this ONLY benefits the owner. All you gain from this is -you lie to someone's face AKA you are made a liar - that person will tell the other people in the workspace what you told her, which is a lie when they fire her and put you in the position, EVERYONE will know that you are a LIAR and will never trust you this company will do the exact same thing to you and you can never trust them with anything they say
    via u/Late_Extent_991
  • 14
    Key_Horse_8632 This!! No-one will willingly want to work with you and this will sabotage you.
    via u/Key_Horse_8632
  • 15
    Reggo91 Telling lies could even be grounds for legal action against her dismissal in some jurisdictions. Apart from the questionable ethics, I would not want to get in any form get involved in this.
    via u/Reggo91
  • 16
    Iceflowers Are they paying you to shadow her? Here's the issue. This isn't that uncommon - but how they do her is how they're going to do you. Keep that in mind. I wouldn't shadow her unless already hired. Otherwise it's working for free. There's actually quite a few companies that get people to do free work, including projects, for free as part of the interview process who have no intention of hiring anyone.
    via u/Iceflowers_
  • 17
    YoshiSan90 I'd pretend to be game, and then tell her and leave.
    via u/YoshiSan90
  • 18
    TheUltimateShitTest I did this earlier this year. Did my onboarding, paperwork, videos, etc. They go to take me out to the floor and the hr lady tells me "Btw, the guy you're replacing is still here, and doesn't know he's being replaced. Tell him you are here to 'help streamline operations."" I said ok and went and met the guy. Waited until I knew nobody was paying attention and told him everything. Told him he'd better start looking for a job because they sent me there to replace him in 30 days
    via u/TheUltimateShitTest
  • 19
    slatebluegrey I think, if I were interested in the job, I'd shadow her to get a feeling of the situation. She could be a really nice person but she also could be an unhinged nutcase, or an angry abrasive employee. Either way, she's getting the boot. There's nothing the OP can do to stop it. I would be wary and a little uncomfortable lying. But the OP was asked by management to review the processes. So that's partially true. It's just not the whole truth.
    via u/slatebluegrey

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Tags

replacement getting fired employee fired employed fired job applicant shadow business owner new hire replaced job applications employees business job application
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